Letters to the editor

Snobs communists 8226; I AGREE with Saubhik Chakrabarti 8216;Communism and its uncle8217;, IE, January 10. But I am afraid I have a t...

Snobs 038; communists

8226; I AGREE with Saubhik Chakrabarti 8216;Communism and its uncle8217;, IE, January 10. But I am afraid I have a take on his argument that he may not have anticipated. I have met and worked with a lot of highly educated Bengalis. I have always been struck by a kind of intellectual/cultural elitism they exhibit, sometimes unknowingly. To see whether the dissector of Bengali communists whose article I read with some interest shares the same trait, I searched the Indian Express web site for Chakrabarti8217;s other articles. I came across some of his writings on television news. I have to say that underlining his critique of television is a kind of cultural/intellectual elitism. Educated Bengalis, whether of the Left or as seems to be the case with Chakrabarti of the Right, seem to be cultural snobs. I apologise if this sounds harsh. I mean no offence. And I am hoping that this small critique of mine finds place in The Indian Express.

8212; J.C. Maheshwari, Nagpur

8226; AS a political scientist working on political parties and systems, I had, while I was visiting Calcutta last year, predicted the demise of the CPM within the next 6 years. I did so based on a variation of the logic Chakrabarti presents in his article. The CPM, I argued, is divided between those who profit from the 8216;machine8217; and those who stand to benefit from industrialisation. Whereas Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee is widely touted as Bengal8217;s Deng Xiao Ping, he should be considered its Gorbachev. Chakrabarti8217;s article is lucid and insightful. As a political scientist, I consider his counter-intuitive explanation of Bengal8217;s current situation as the best delivered in the mainstream media.

8212; Vasabjit Banerjee; Indiana, US

8226; CHAKRABARTI8217;S assessment that Jyoti Basu did not feel the same urgency as Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee does about industrialising Bengal is right. Bhattacharjee has to acquire land and he can8217;t do it with many of his party colleagues sniping at him. As Chakrabarti says, the party machinery can8217;t be easily split. So what8217;s the liberal section of the CPM to do? A great dilemma indeed.

8212; N.K. Das Gupta, Kolkata

8226; I DON8217;T agree with Chakrabarti. I think it is good to be a Leftist and especially a Bengali Leftist. My family goes only to Bengali doctors in Delhi. One such doctor had a different fee for poor and middle-class patients. These Left-leaning doctors also did not overcharge. One Dr Banerjee, who passed away some time back, used to practise from a South Extension clinic. Despite that location, he charged only Rs 50 . I would also like to point out to Chakrabarti that M.N. Roy had predicted that, if democracy is imposed on a basically illiterate population such as ours, it would lead to corruption and mobocracy, which I guess has happened.

8212; Jayanthi C., New Delhi

Sun worship

8226; I FIND nothing wrong in the MP government8217;s initiative of 8216;surya namaskar8217; for school children IE, January 8. There is no need to politicise this or get embroiled in secular-communal debates. Man8217;s reverence to the Sun, whose energy sustains life, is more than a ritual. Today, teaching children to revere the Sun can be related to crucial issues like renewable energy, environment protection and sustainable development. Plus, surya namashkar is also an occasion where children can be encouraged to get physically fitter. Let our biases not come in the way of a holistic education.

8212; Anil Lyall, Delhi